In a nursing home a panicky woman watches as another woman dies. She unexplainably rushes down the corridor in a panic. As she passes a white board, she writes something on her hand and runs out of the building into the street. At the same time, Emily who is texting while driving hits her - although not very hard and she isn't injured.
Emily gets out of her car to check on the woman who says accusingly, "He told her to make it look like an accident". Emily is confused. The lady then says "He killed Rose; now he's coming after me."
Emily asks he who, and she says "Charlie". Emily notices that is the name written on her hand, and tries to get her to be checked out but she won't go. She exclaims she is fine, she's only 24. But she is a middle-aged woman. Emily, increasingly concerned offers to take her home. So the lady gives her an address and says her name is Veronica.
So Emily drives to the address, but it's not a house. Veronica says that it's the wrong address and wonders who wrote "Charlie" on her hand. Knowing that Veronica needs more help than she can provide, Emily texts Cal to come help. When Cal arrives Veronica tell him Rose is her sister and when he trys to soothe her she calls him Burt and gives him a kiss.
Cal reads something in Veronica's face and decides he wants to get to the bottom of the stories Veronica is saying, so he brings her back the The Lightman Group. As they arrive they come across Eli, who looks like he has been in a fight. There they examine her, Gillian says she is not on drugs, nor schizophrenic. She is suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer's. So then Cal asks her to find out who Burt is and who has lived at the address she had given Emily.
Ria had been attending to Eli's wounds, but Veronica takes over. As she tends to him she begins to recite medical facts, adding that she met Burt when she was a nurse. When Emily asks her what went wrong, Veronica stares at her blankly for a moment and resumes tending Eli and repeats the same facts.
Gillian got some information on Veronica and that address, she informs tells Cal that a Burton and Veronica Sloan lived at that address almost ten years ago. Burt's been dead three years, and that Rose was a 1968 unsolved murder victim - and the only suspect was Veronica! So Cal and Gillian decide to go talk to Gus, Veronica's brother-in-law. He seems like an angry and defensive man,a situation which Cal doesn't help by making insinuating remarks and wondering out loud if Gus was involved in Rose's murder. He says that he didn't even know Veronica has escaped from the facility, and they hadn't even called him to say she was missing. He also says he's been hearing about Charlie for years and insists he's just amade up person. Cal tells Gus, Veronica's ill not paranoid.
Meanwhile back to the Lightman Group Eli, Ria, Gillian and Emily are listening to a tape of Veronica's 1968 police interrogation. Ria hears survivor's guilt. Eli hears rehearsed dialogue, and Gillian hears that she's hiding something. After returning Veronica to the facility, Cal persuades the chief of staff, Dr. Hammer, and resident psychiatrist, Dr. Olson, to keep her off medication for now.
Back at the offices Cal, Emily, and Veronica are watching old home movies celebrating her engagement. Suddenly Veronica gets up and walks up to and caresses the screen. "Charlie Eaton ", she says. They have found the mysterious Charlie. Cal decides to visit Charlie at his home. It doesn't go well, especially after Cals tells him he noticed Rose died the day Charlie volunteered for Vietnam. Charlie yells at him to get off his property.
When Cal looks over some old photos of Veronica, Rose, and Charlie, Cal notes that within a two-month span the trio is no longer as tight - and Rose is pregnant. So Cal goes back to see Charlie, who reluctantly confirms the pregnancy "It was a mistake, only one time" he claims. He ran away from he situation, claiming Veronica's anger caused his sudden exit - but he didn't kill Rose.
Gillian thinks Veronica may be using Alzheimer's to hide behind her guilt. Cal orders says he's going to "resurrect Burt" and recreate the past at Veronica old address in the hopes of getting some more information. Veronica arrives she goes back in time, but noticing Gillian sitting next to Cal/Burt she becomes jealous. she blurts out the names of the people who she says Charlie killed and says Rose didn't want to have Charlie's baby. But Cal suspects otherwise and gets Veronica to admit that she hiring a woman to give Rose an abortion- which killed her. Veronica says in anguish "I'm a nurse, I should have known better." Cal says that Veronica has much more contempt for herself than Charlie, and Gillian notices that two of the people she named were recent deaths. Cal gets an idea and rushes back to the nursing home where this all started.
Looking for something, anything in Veronica room, Cal finds nothing. Upon leaving he sees a patient, Mark a young motorcycle accident victim who has been in a coma for eight months. As he is watching him, a man walks up to him and says he is the father of Gretchen, the young woman Veronica saw die just a few days earlier. He tell Cal Veronica was always nice to Gretchen and so he wanted her to have a hand-painted card that reads "from Rose." She always called Gretchen Rose he says.
Cal's staff finds out there have been 12 deaths of the patients at the facility in the last six months. Then when Veronica identifies a photo of Gretchen as Rose, Cal thinks the "Charlie" Veronica is running from is someone at on the staff. And he believes that person is really killing people.
So Cal and Gillian question an incredulous Dr. Hammer, that claims he would know if someone on his staff was killing patients. Bur Cal says he is going to interview the entire staff. Everyone interviewed show what is called "professional numbness" a normal defense behavior. All except Frazier, who says while he hates his job, he finds inspiration from the patients' fight to live. He claims that he Dr. Olson are the only ones at the facility who truly care.
Back at the the facility, Cal watches another dead patient being wheeled away. Angry, he starts to confront a shaken Dr. Hammer when he notices Veronica's door moving. Inside the room he finds Veronica curled up asleep and Dr. Olson watching her. Cal thinks Dr. Olson is the killer and accuses him of playing God and killing Gretchen. "Doctors play God all the time," he replies, as he puts on his white coat. This triggers Veronica to call him "Charlie" and Cal is sure now of his guilt- but has no proof.
Later on that night Dr. Olson enters Mark's room. He is giving him a fatal injection. As he does he whispers "Good-bye Mark". Suddenly al and other officials rush through the door. It was a set up. When Cal admonishes Dr. Olson he says "I just wanted to prevent pain." It's over, but Cal wants to reassure Veronica that she will be okay, that Charlie is gone forever.
That evening at home, Emily, while texting (did she learn anything?) gets in her car, only to discover that the steering wheel has a lock on it. Cal leans into the window and asks her "Phone or Car?" Emily tries to play dumb, but Cal is having none of it. "Phone or Car?" he repeats. She dials Liam, her boyfriend for a ride, and says problem solved. Cal stares her down and takes her keys.